What are good odds? 1 in 50? 50 in 100? The odds of spine surgery patients developing failed back surgical syndrome are 4 to 50%, 4 to 50 in 100. (1) Are those good odds? Young Chiropractic offers Easley chiropractic care, non-surgical care, with odds at least equal to those odds for our Easley back pain patients seeking relief of pain.
First, back surgery and its ramifications for back pain relief. One article discusses when back surgery is the right choice. Sometimes, it is necessary, but the author invites a surgical candidate to know what it does to the spine. This article counsels that “the decision to consider back surgery should always come after trying non-surgical or ‘conservative’ options. However, when ‘the pain is persistent and clearly related to a mechanical problem in the spine,’” it may make sense. (1) Today, spinal fusion surgeries are growing in use.
What happens in a spinal fusion? The intent is to fuse an unstable joint to prevent motion and thus pain. Two spinal bones – vertebrae – next to each other are joined surgically to become one unit. Metal screws and rods may be used to do this. Fusion surgeries are major surgeries, and they don’t always succeed. One Harvard Medical School professor, Dr. Steven Atlas, explains that “Based on the evidence, the indications for fusion are few and far between, but that doesn't stop surgeons from doing them or patients from getting them." He even shares that pain is typically reduced by 50%, and very few fusion surgery patients have no pain after the surgery. (2) So the odds of surgical success with fusion are 50%. What about the odds of chiropractic success for back pain?
Equal if not better. Chiropractic care with a technique called Cox Technic flexion distraction spinal manipulation and decompression offers promise. (Listen in to this discussion about failed back surgical syndrome care with Cox Technic.) Before surgery, Cox Technic odds of pain relief are up to 91% for low back conditions like disc degeneration, herniation, spondylolisthesis, sprain/strain, etc. After back surgery and the post-surgical continued pain experience some back pain sufferers have, greater than 50% pain relief. The study showed specifically that 81% of postsurgical patients receiving a mean of 11 visits over a 49-day period of active care found relief. 50% relief is good. (3)
We all seek the best odds possible when making a decision, especially a decision as big as surgery. Back surgery offers stunning odds: 4 to 50% that a back pain patient who undergoes back surgery will experience failed back surgical syndrome. What comes with failed back surgical syndrome? Pain, obviously, but also repeat surgeries, higher costs, decreases in surgical success rates, and other physical, physiological and pathological issues come, too. (1) With odds like this, Young Chiropractic invites Easley back pain sufferers to consider chiropractic care.
Certainly, Young Chiropractic would hope to be a pre-surgical stop that relieves and controls Easley back pain and potentially staves off a lumbar spine surgery, but also offers Easley chiropractic services to reduce post-surgical continued pain when it occurs.
Young Chiropractic is equipped and ready to help Easley back pain patients who are contemplating back surgery as well as those who have undergone back surgery and have continued pain. Either way, Young Chiropractic knows that Easley back pain sufferers are seeking relief and may well be quite accepting of the 50% odds of relief as a desirable outcome.
Contact Young Chiropractic today for a pre-back surgery or a post-back surgery consultation to see how Easley chiropractic care may benefit you.
